After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

The wind in the mass grave in the western suburbs stopped strangely.

It did not cease naturally, but was forcibly suppressed by a more tyrannical rule.

Li Zhiyao stood atop the ruins, but the compass in her hand emitted no spiritual light whatsoever.

The bronze pointers, however, spun so fast they left afterimages before snapping off in unison.

"The door is open, let's go."

Her gaze never lingered on the wandering ghosts and spirits, but was fixed on the projection of the turbid yellow river in the void.

The evil spirits, who had lost their restraints due to Song Wuji's sudden death and were even attempting to devour the flesh and blood of living people under their instincts, suddenly froze.

Under this crushing force originating from the "Reincarnation" path, the will to survive overcame greed.

There was no tearful farewell, nor any sighs about the past.

Tens of thousands of souls, like mice seeing a cat, rushed madly toward the narrow path shrouded in blue smoke.

This is about escaping for one's life.

If you're even half a beat slower, your soul will be scattered.

In the blink of an eye, the surrounding malevolent energy was swept away.

The entire mass grave was so clean it looked like white porcelain scraped with a boning knife, with a pale, ashen appearance.

Li Zhiyao put away the broken compass, her pale face revealing no emotion whatsoever.

She turned around.

They ran right into a pair of fierce, purple-gold demonic eyes.

Zhou Ran stood still, his feet resting on the ashes of Song Wuji, which had turned to scorched earth.

The black scales on his left arm, resembling a qilin, were still steaming with white smoke from the intense heat, making him look like a ferocious beast that had just torn its prey apart.

"A clever plan."

Zhou Ran clapped his hands, the applause sounding particularly jarring in the empty night.

"I'll take the killings, I'll bear the lightning tribulations, I'll provide the strength."

"In the end, you just pull out a broken compass, talk a few words, and pocket all the credit for saving the world?"

Zhou Ran took a step forward, his Qilin Arm emitting black light, revealing his killing intent.

This is all pure, unadulterated wish power!

As long as that old demon Futian suffers some punishment that night, even if he recites the Purification Mantra more often, he can still complete the salvation!

Transformed into pure white, radiant power of wishes!

"You pick these peaches more skillfully than Song Wuji."

Li Zhiyao did not back down an inch.

Her gray robe looked rather thin and forlorn in the night wind, and her eyes, which seemed like dry wells, stared intently at Zhou Ran.

"I don't care about these wishes."

But if you want it, I'll have to see how you perform.

She spoke, her voice cold and hard.

Zhou Ran smiled.

I laughed out of anger.

"So, you're saying I have to work for you?"

He formed his five fingers into a hook and fiercely gripped Li Zhiyao's throat!

Since this woman has been watching the show from the sidelines, let's see what she's really capable of.

There was no clash of spiritual energy as expected.

Li Zhiyao did not dodge.

Zhou Ran's fingertip stopped an inch in front of her Adam's apple.

It's not that I'm soft-hearted.

But in that instant, the Qilin bone in his left arm, which had already fused with his own, suddenly became wild without warning!

A surge of heat exploded from the depths of his bones, not the burning sensation of facing an enemy, but rather a feeling of encountering...

The joy of those of the same bloodline?

This is utterly absurd.

Zhou Ran frowned deeply, forcefully suppressing the movement of his left arm.

If he had that Soul-Suppressing Wedge, he was confident he could pull it out with this move.

But now, the Qilin bone is acting up again.

"What?

Want to take action?

Li Zhiyao's words were devoid of any emotion.

Zhou Ran stared at her, his tone icy.

"What did you do to me?"

She lowered her eyes, her gaze passing over Zhou Ran's fingers.

It clung tightly to that uncontrollable, heart-pounding unicorn arm.

For the first time ever, ripples appeared in those usually still, calm eyes.

It's not fear.

It's more of an obsession.

"really……"

She murmured softly, ignoring Zhou Ran's sharp fingers that could crush metal and stone, and raised her hand, wanting to touch that arm.

"Don't touch me."

Zhou Ran turned away in disgust, avoiding the pale hand.

Li Zhiyao's hand froze in mid-air.

She wasn't annoyed, and withdrew her hand, barely managing to twitch the muscles on her delicate but lifeless face.

He seemed to want to laugh, but having never made an expression in years, he appeared unusually stiff and strange.

There's another reason why I'm not taking action.

Li Zhiyao changed the subject, regaining her almost mechanical rationality.

"I'm inspecting the goods."

"What are you testing for?"

"To determine whether that 10 billion US dollars was well spent."

Zhou Ran narrowed his eyes slightly.

This woman is quite frank.

Li Zhiyao spoke in a flat tone.

"I never invest in useless variables."

"Song Wuji is a fool. He tried to open up the earth's veins, but he only managed to kill himself."

I've been watching from the sidelines, waiting for you.

"Because of you, you are a variable."

Li Zhiyao raised her hand and pointed to the crack in the ground that had been completely sealed up.

"The earth's veins have opened, and the things inside can no longer be suppressed."

The Li family has guarded this place for thousands of years, and they're nearing their limit.

"So, you need a knife?"

Zhou Ran sneered.

"right."

Li Zhiyao answered crisply and decisively.

"You're ruthless, strong, and..."

You possess items belonging to the Li family.

Zhou Ran's heart pounded.

"What did you say?"

Li Zhiyao stared at his left arm and uttered something startling.

The bone in your arm.

"It's my brother."

Zhou Ran's noodles twitched slightly.

This method of recognizing relatives is a bit too hardcore.

So, does that mean this woman in front of me has lived for at least several thousand years?!

"It's exactly what you think."

I am a being who has reincarnated, therefore, I am not bound by the constraints of time.

Li Zhiyao spoke Zhou Ran's mind.

Stop giving me that nonsense.

Zhou Ran snorted coldly.

"I picked up these bones in the void. What, your Li family's ancestral graves are buried in the void?"

"The Void Realm..."

Upon hearing those two words, a look of surprise finally appeared in Li Zhiyao's eyes.

"I see.

My brother doesn't practice Taoist magic; he focuses on cultivating his physical body.

In order to achieve physical immortality, he endured the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulations, traversing the void with his physical body, striving to forge himself into a weapon.

"Everyone says he vanished into thin air."

"The Li family could calculate every secret of heaven, but they could not find out his whereabouts, simply because he had transcended the Five Elements."

"So, it turns out to be the illusory realm you spoke of."

Li Zhiyao looked at Zhou Ran with the same gaze she would give a rare and priceless artifact that had been lost and found again.

"Until you appeared."

"You've returned with this bone."

"I've finally found you."

Zhou Ran remained silent.

He had to admit that this mystical explanation, though it sounded ridiculous, was damnably self-consistent in logic.

The reaction of the left arm doesn't lie.

Since Li Zhiyao approached, the Qilin bone has been emitting more than just heat.

That was a resonance deep within the bloodline.

"so what?"

Zhou Ran lowered his hand, his murderous aura subsided, and he adopted the shrewd demeanor of a businessman.

"You want me to dig it up and return it to you?"

"No."

Li Zhiyao shook her head.

"Once it enters your body, it becomes your opportunity."

She took a business card out of her sleeve and handed it to Zhou Ran.

"Since you took the Li family's ancestral heirloom, you have already become entangled in karma."

"Come to the Li Mansion after dawn."

"The Song family has fallen. This piece of fat meat is too big for you to handle alone; you'll choke to death."

"I'll cut it for you."

"What if I don't go?"

"Not going?"

She smiled, pursing her lips.

"Don't you find it disproportionate that you only have one left arm?"

"Beneath the earth's veins lie the remains of a Qilin's body."

"To be precise, it's the spine."

Zhou Ran's pupils suddenly contracted.

Spine!

Where the dragon is!

If the Qilin Arm is the weapon, then the spine is the true pillar supporting this demonic body.

If he could obtain the Qilin spine, his physical strength would directly leap across a major realm, and he might even be able to withstand the bombardment of a magic weapon from a Golden Core stage cultivator!

This woman is really good at business.

She knew what kind of bargaining chip she couldn't refuse.

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Zhiyao gave Zhou Ran no room to refuse.

The gray mist churned beneath her feet, and she retreated like a ghost, her figure quickly melting into the night.

Only a single, fleeting sentence remains, echoing through the desolate, chaotic burial ground.

"Also, don't look at me like that."

"In terms of seniority, you have to call me Auntie."

Zhou Ran clutched the cold business card, staring at the direction she had disappeared in, when black flames suddenly shot up three feet high from his Qilin arm.

"What the hell is this little auntie?!"

"White umbrella! Come out here!"

"Find out everything about this woman!"

"If they dare to take advantage of me, I'll turn her Li Mansion into a public toilet tomorrow!"